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Chapter – 06
“So, what exactly are you trying to propose to me?”
The moment the carriage stopped in front of the Florence duchy, Emilio asked the question.
His hands were trembling violently—as though it was a miracle he had managed to pretend to be calm this whole time.
“And I thought perhaps now you could finally tell me.”
Despite that, his expression and voice remained composed, which Luize rather liked.
She was about to immediately step out of the carriage but changed her mind.
If she did that, this overly cautious boy might panic and run away.
“Well, first of all, you’re a guest at my home, so I’d like to offer you some tea.”
“Tea?”
“Would that be alright?”
Luize deliberately softened her tone, as though saying she wouldn’t force him if he didn’t want to.
“I thought you came looking for me because you had something you wanted to say too.”
“……”
“If not, I can call another carriage for you, and you may leave.”
Emilio looked conflicted for a moment.
Without pressing further, Luize stepped out of the carriage.
“Travel safely on your way back.”
“W-Wait, my lady!”
When Luize actually tried to send him away, Emilio hurriedly reached for her.
“How dare you!”
Or rather, he tried to before the knights blocked him.
“It’s fine.”
Luize gently calmed them.
Emilio immediately bowed low to the ground.
“F-Forgive me! I was terribly rude!”
“I said it’s fine.”
As she spoke, Luize personally helped him back to his feet.
“Let’s just have some tea.”
“Y-Yes, my lady!”
Filled with gratitude, Emilio bowed repeatedly before following after her.
After heading to the drawing room, Luize offered Emilio a seat and sat across from him.
Once the maid finished preparing the tea and left, the two were alone.
The moment Emilio took a sip and set down his cup, Luize asked:
“By any chance, what kind of work are you doing right now?”
“I run errands and do odd jobs at restaurants and inns.”
After answering, Emilio cautiously asked with guarded eyes:
“But… why are you asking that?”
“I was wondering what you’d think about working here.”
“What?”
Luize intended to keep Emilio by her side.
‘Because Emilio is the true heir of House Thierry, the famous medical family.’
Unlike the impostors who had recently appeared claiming to be descendants of House Thierry.
‘In my previous life, those fakes were exposed while trying to scam Marquis Orlando and were executed.’
Emilio had only appeared publicly much later.
Under the condition that his identity remained hidden, he worked with the support of Marquis Orlando and only revealed himself after the Third Prince lost power.
‘Which means there’s a high chance the disappearance of House Thierry in the past was connected to the Third Prince.’
Contrary to his public image, the Third Prince was rotten to the core.
Fortunately, Crown Prince Franz and Calix ultimately managed to stop him, but…
‘Because his plans failed, the Third Prince killed me, simply because I was Calix’s wife.’
Just to vent his anger.
Luize didn’t know what happened afterward, but the ending probably wasn’t good.
Even before her death, the Third Prince had already lost most of his influence.
‘Still, just in case, it’s better to weaken his power earlier this time.’
She had no desire to die as the Third Prince’s punching bag again in this life.
And for that, she needed as many cards in her hand as possible.
“You said the ring was your mother’s keepsake, right? The jeweler told me, and I felt sorry for you, so I returned it.”
In other words, if he wanted, she could even offer him a job.
‘Because I can’t exactly tell him outright that I know he’s the real heir of House Thierry.’
That would only make him more suspicious.
Especially for someone from a family that had mysteriously disappeared.
“My business is finished.”
Meaning: if he had something to say, now was the time.
Emilio remained silent for a long while, his eyes filled with conflict.
Luize patiently waited while sipping her warm tea.
By the time the tea had cooled, Emilio finally spoke.
“I’m curious… how did you come to possess the ring?”
“The ring? Ah.”
“I was wondering if perhaps you knew my mother.”
Luize set down her teacup.
“It was a gift from my fiancé.”
“Ah… I see…”
Emilio tried to hide his disappointment, but Luize caught the fleeting expression immediately.
‘Does he think his mother may have left him a message?’
Unfortunately, in both her previous life and this one, Luize had little connection to House Thierry.
In her previous life, all she had done was coldly refuse Emilio’s request to return the ring.
‘Because it was a gift from Calix.’
If only she had negotiated better with Emilio back then.
Maybe she wouldn’t have died so miserably.
That was why this life had to be different.
“And you also said you wanted me to work here…”
After nervously fiddling with his teacup for some time, Emilio carefully continued.
“To be honest, this is all so sudden.”
“It’s because you keep reminding me of someone.”
“…What?”
Emilio’s eyes shook violently.
He looked like someone who had just heard something he absolutely shouldn’t have.
Realizing the misunderstanding, Luize quickly corrected herself.
“Sorry, but I only have feelings for my fiancé.”
Well, not now—but around this point in her previous life, that had certainly been true.
“I don’t have a mother either.”
Luize said it casually, and it was true, but Emilio flinched.
“So when I heard that the ring was your mother’s keepsake, it stayed on my mind.”
That was why she wanted to keep him close.
Perhaps understanding her meaning, Emilio didn’t ask further.
“And you… you’re actually a girl, aren’t you?”
At Luize’s lowered voice, Emilio’s eyes trembled for an instant.
“I’m pretty observant.”
“……”
Emilio suddenly fell silent with a calm expression.
Then, as though he had no idea why she would make such a misunderstanding, he smiled innocently.
“My lady, I—”
“I may be observant, but I dislike unnecessary noise.”
“…Pardon?”
“What does your secret have to do with me?”
There was no value in exposing it to others, nor did she intend to.
Perhaps because he understood her meaning, the wariness in Emilio’s eyes softened.
“Please call me Emil.”
“Hm?”
“My real name is far too grand.”
His—or rather, her—real name was not Emilio, but Emilia Thierry.
“All right, then.”
It wasn’t a difficult request, so Luize nodded easily.
Since Emilia clearly wanted to hide her identity, it was only right to respect that.
“I look forward to working with you, Emil.”
Luize extended one hand as if for a handshake.
Emil hesitated awkwardly before finally taking it.
“……Thank you, my lady.”
And so, Luize gained Emilia Thierry—the true heir of House Thierry—as an ally by her side.
Luize had changed.
Once, she used to come and go from the duchy as though it were her own home, but now she had firmly stopped visiting.
She no longer flooded Calix with endless letters or suddenly appeared after secretly keeping track of his every move.
The change was so drastic it almost felt as though she had become a completely different person.
Naturally, the person who felt this change the most was her fiancé, Calix.
‘Is she still angry because I left early due to the mine incident?’
The image of Luize the last time he saw her surfaced in his mind.
He had tried, in his own way, to cheer her up—buying gifts and spending time over tea—but perhaps it hadn’t satisfied her.
The thought exhausted him.
‘How long is she going to keep acting like a child?’
Luize had turned twenty this year.
By Belzernian standards, she was already a full adult.
Yet she still behaved so immaturely that it left him baffled and sighing.
Knock knock.
At that moment, someone knocked on the office door.
“My lord, you have a visitor.”
“A visitor?”
Calix looked puzzled. He had no appointments scheduled today.
Could it be Luize?
But his expectation was quickly shattered.
“Lady Diana Ubel of House Ubel has come to see you.”
“Diana Ubel?”
He was simply confused.
They weren’t close at all; the only interaction they’d ever had was that he’d shown her a little kindness at the last banquet.
“Send her away.”
With things already tense between him and Luize, meeting another woman would only complicate matters further.
“She said she absolutely must see you because it concerns Lady Luize.”
Something concerning Luize.
At the very least, that meant she hadn’t come because she misunderstood his previous kindness as romantic interest.
“Escort her to the drawing room. And make sure the servants remain nearby so Lady Ubel doesn’t misunderstand anything.”
The Diana Ubel he met there looked terrified as she confessed an unexpected truth.
“……Actually, I was the rude one first. I told Lady Luize to stop bothering you, Duke. I even called her vulgar and disgusting.”
“And when I fell into the fountain, it was because I stumbled while stepping backward. Lady Luize didn’t do anything.”
It felt absurd.
Because of that incident, Calix had avoided meeting Luize for a while, and in her anxiety, Luize had tried to visit the duchy—only to end up in the carriage accident.
And the cause of it all was something this trivial…
‘No. That’s not right.’
There was no point blaming Diana Ubel.
This whole situation stemmed from his own mistake—drawing conclusions without even listening to his fiancée’s side of the story.
Realizing that, Calix immediately sent a letter requesting to visit House Florence.
But every single time, Luize refused, claiming she was out or already had plans.
Thinking she must still be angry about the incident at the lake, Calix sent another letter and finally managed to arrange a date.
And when he at last saw Luize again—
“Hahaha! Is that really true? You’re not joking?”
“Joking? My lady, I’m completely serious.”
She was laughing happily and chatting with a young boy.
The very same boy who had taken Luize’s ring, claiming it was his mother’s keepsake.
